


Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win

by Error401



Series: In and Out [9]
Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Beer, Gen, Glenn's past, M/M, Pizza, no zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Error401/pseuds/Error401
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s an honest job,” Glenn said defensively. “I could do a lot worse.” He had done a lot worse. He took a bite of the leftover slice, but began to regret it as his stomach started to roil. “Besides, I quit school. No one wants to hire a dropout.”</p><p>“You quit?” Daryl grunted, taking a swig of his lukewarm beer.</p><p>“Yeah,” Glenn slurred, dropping the pizza back into the box and running the back of his arm over his mouth. “Everyone hated me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win

**Author's Note:**

> It was more difficult than I thought picking a summary passage.

Luckily, it seemed like his several days of absence at work had convinced whoever was following him that he had quit there, too, in addition to the diner. If Shane thought he’d quit, then maybe he’d start looking elsewhere and give Glenn a break. He didn’t have time to worry about psychotic law enforcement in addition to tons of deliveries. He’d gotten the short stick of delivery routes in punishment for being gone so long, but as long as he still had a job, he could deal with it.

Thanks to Daryl’s training, Glenn was slowly gaining his courage and self-confidence back. Not that he had any illusions about taking anybody down, but he could at least hold his own until he figured out how to run away. If there was one thing he was good at, it was running. And Portal. 

He’d convinced himself that Daryl was pretty much invincible. Nothing ever seemed to faze him, he never got tired after their workouts, he resisted Andrea’s charms, he put up with Glenn’s bad jokes (which, okay, if it were anyone other than Daryl, they would have laughed), and then he went out to do whatever it was he did all day. Glenn had asked him what his job was, but all he’d received in turn was a scathing look. He figured it didn’t really matter, anyway.

So when Daryl showed up at his apartment with a split lip and a duffle bag, Glenn didn’t know what to do other than step aside and let him in. He watched in a little shock as Daryl kept his head ducked and slid into his living room. “I’ll be gone by tomorrow,” Daryl said, tossing his bag to the foot of the couch.

“Oh, ugh, it’s no problem,” Glenn said hurriedly. “I gotta’ go to work anyway, so…well, you know where everything is.” 

“Mmm,” Daryl nodded. He sat down and began unlacing his boots.

“Umm,” Glenn said, adjusting his uniform cap. He pocketed his keys and turned to watch as Daryl stretched out on his back, closing his eyes. “See ya’.”

Daryl didn’t say anything.

Glenn's whole shift he was distracted, turning down the wrong streets and forgetting to stop at lights and signs. Who could have hurt Daryl? _How_ the heck were they able to? The man was a freakin’ Terminator. Glenn shivered as his skin was suddenly hit by a wave of goosebumps. Whoever it was, he definitely never wanted to meet them, ever.

“Glenn, hey, man!” T-Dog offered Glenn a fist when he opened the door, and Glenn happily returned the bump. “Where you been? The kids been askin’ after you.” T-Dog helped run a center for underprivileged youth, and there was no better reward for good behavior than food, so Glenn found himself at the door quite often. Glenn used to come down to the center on his days off and play basketball with them, but he hadn’t really found the time, too busy going crazy about everything else. 

“I haven’t been feeling great lately,” Glenn shrugged. “But I’m back to my old self, don’t you worry.” 

“I was scared those guys who got you a few a months ago had come lookin’ for you or somethin’, man,” T-Dog shook his head. “Can’t scare a dude like that.”

“Well, hey, I gotta’ deliver the rest of these, but it was awesome seeing you, T,” Glenn smiled genuinely. He maneuvered the five pizza boxes he was carrying into T-Dog’s waiting arms. “You think I could come visit on the weekend some time?” 

“Definitely, man,” T-Dog nodded. “There’s nothing I like more than kicking your ass on the court.”

“Hey, challenge accepted!” Glenn called over his shoulder as he started to climb into his car. He paused, then turned back around. “Could I bring a friend?”

“The more witnesses to your failure, the better,” T-Dog shrugged, laughing.

“I’ll make you eat those words!” Glenn shouted, honking his horn as he peeled out of the parking lot.    

Because he was late more often than not, his tips were sorely lacking, but he did get to take home a couple of messed up orders, which his stomach was happy about. He made sure to tell his boss goodnight as he was leaving, and he waved to everyone shoving pizzas in ovens in the back. It was good to get into the routine, even if he was sure he’d hate the smell of pizza again in no time. 

He carefully slid his key into the slot and unlocked his door, opening it to pitch darkness. He balanced the pizzas on one arm as he tip-toed into the kitchen, flipping on one of the lights. He sighed as he flipped back one cardboard lid. He hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until there were two large pizzas in front of him.

“I bought beer,” Daryl said from the doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and Glenn screamed, jumping backwards and hitting his elbow on the refrigerator.

“Shit!” Glenn cursed, rubbing at his elbow and willing his heart to calm down. “Daryl, you scared the crap outta’ me!”

Daryl shrugged, shuffling in further. “It’s in the fridge." 

Glenn sighed, pushing one of the pizzas in Daryl’s direction. “Want some?”

They settled companionably on the couch, Daryl drinking two beers for every one Glenn managed to knock back and not getting nearly half as drunk. “I used to hate pizza,” Glenn said, knocking over a few empty beer bottles as he reached for another slice. “Working there, it just got gross, you know? But desperate times, man…” He shoved half a slice into his mouth, getting sauce all over his chin. 

“Why you even workin’ there?” Daryl asked, hugging a pillow on his lap. “You know stuff, don’t ya’? Brain’s too big to be doin’ shit like that.” 

“It’s an honest job,” Glenn said defensively. “I could do a lot worse.” He had done a lot worse. He took a bite of the leftover slice, but began to regret it as his stomach started to roil. “Besides, I quit school. No one wants to hire a dropout.”

“You quit?”Daryl grunted, taking a swig of his lukewarm beer.

“Yeah,” Glenn slurred, dropping the pizza back into the box and running the back of his arm over his mouth. “Everyone hated me.”

“You? They hated you?” Daryl asked, incredulous.

“Yup,” Glenn said, taking a big swallow of his own. 

Daryl sighed, pulling the bottle away from Glenn’s shaky grip and setting it onto the table. “Don’t make no sense.” 

Glenn shrugged, reaching for the bottle again and frowning when Daryl pushed it out of his reach. “What?” 

“You’ve had enough, kid,” Daryl grunted. Glenn would have disagreed had not his vision taken a turn for the fuzzy. “Why they hate you?”

Glenn frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “The police said my roommate raped a girl. Showed me pictures of bruises, copies of lab reports. Got me to say that he had violent tendencies, did drugs, other bad shit. I thought…I thought he was guilty. She said it was him, picked him out of a lineup and everything.”

“He wasn’t,” Daryl said. 

“Nope,” Glenn laughed. “They couldn’t pin him for drug charges, so they convinced the girl that he was the one who did it, who…raped her. She was so freaked out that she just went along with it, right up until the eleventh hour when his defense team found video footage from a street camera giving him an alibi.” He reached for his beer again, and this time Daryl let him go. “I ruined his life.” 

“You ain’t the one said he did it,” Daryl said quietly. 

“Nah, I’m just the one that made him out to be some kinda’ druggie psycho on the witness stand,” Glenn said. “The one who told them about his Ritalin addiction and his collection of freaky porn, and how he threatened to kill me if I ever ate his gummy bears again. Stupid roommate stuff that made him sound like an awful person.”

“But they found him innocent in the end.”

“Didn’t matter,” Glenn said darkly. “He’d been expelled, his girlfriend broke up with him, his parents gave up on him, his friends treated him like an outcast. And I did that.” 

“You thought you was doin’ right by that girl,” Daryl said, pushing his fist into the pillow.

“I just always get it wrong,” Glenn slurred tiredly, letting his head droop against the arm of the couch. “But…I told them…I told them I wouldn’t say bad stuff about you.”

“Me?” Daryl asked, watching as Glenn began to nod off.

“Yeah,” Glenn sighed. “I knew you were good, Daryl.”

“Not sure about that,” Daryl said, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch and draping it over Glenn’s still body. He fingered his lip lightly, tracing the scab that split the skin with a dark and ugly mark. “Fuckin’ Chinaman.”

He eyed Glenn for a few more seconds before letting himself relax, laying his own head against the back of the couch. He wondered if there were any good people left in the world at all. 


End file.
